National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s Florida kickoff roots US history in the Mass

National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s Florida kickoff roots US history in the Mass

Before the Declaration of Independence was boldly signed in 1776, before pilgrims feasted at what became popularly regarded as the “First Thanksgiving” in 1621, there was St. Augustine, Florida.  The coastal Florida city was founded in 1565 by Spanish Catholic explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, is celebrated as the longest continually inhabited European-founded city in the U.S., and is home to the United States’ oldest continuously operating par…